Saturday, March 31, 2007

Medieval Tech support

(headsup from Prof. Blosser's Blog)

The world's largest Sundial


By placing huge roman numerals on the sound surrounding MontSt Micheal, off the coast of France, they have made the world's larges Sundial.

Victory Garden

Vodcast of the Victory Garden...

Putting things into perspective

A flash program that compares sizes of things...

(headsup from webwareLINK)

Timewaster of the day...grab the ring

Your timewaster of the day from those dizzy neocons at the corner...

Anne of Green Gables Podcast

and if you scroll down, she also has done Pride and prejudice...

Hell freezes over

Das Spiegel, one of the leading European spewers of Anti American rhetoric, allows an editorial denouncing anti Americanism...

Not a day passes in Germany when someone isn't making the wildest claims, hurling the vilest insults or spreading the most outlandish conspiracy theories about the United States. But there's no risk involved and it all serves mainly to boost the German feeling of self-righteousness.

Iran is a different story. The last time someone made a joke on German TV about an Iranian leader, the outcome was not pleasant. Exactly 20 years ago, Dutch entertainer Rudi Carell produced a short TV sketch portraying Ayatollah Khomeini dressed in women's underwear. Carell received death threats. The piece, which lasted all of a few seconds, led to flights being cancelled and German diplomats being expelled from Tehran. Carell apologized. Jokes about fat Americans are just safer.

the attack of the fifty foot Robot

Michael Jackson is in discussions about creating a 50-foot robotic replica of himself to roam the Las Vegas desert...It has now been claimed that his plans include an elaborate show in Vegas, which would feature the giant Jacko striding around the desert, firing laser beams.

Jane Austen!

Free download/podcasts of Jane Austen's books.

Great to play late at night when you can't sleep....

Friday, March 30, 2007

Manila hostage follow up


Good news: Kids get to meet with GMA for a photo op. It is the start of the campaign season for the May elections, after all.


Bad News: Parents back hostage taker, say he cares...

Headlines below the fold

The father of the MRI has died.
Did you know that the first animal to have an MRI was a clam?

Bad news: African despots think Mugabe is a great guy, and see no reason he shouldn't continue running the country for a couple more years.
And the former exporter of grain faces another year of starvation according to the UN.

Blogfather
says it best:

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED to 'name, rank, and serial number?'"
"International law" is only a tool to bash the United States and its allies. It's not meant to actually protect people. Except the enemies of civilization. Just ask the folks in Darfur.

and I would add, Zimbabwe...

Austin Bay's take is HERE .
He thinks the mullahs pulled the stunt to try to unite their restless people and prop up their regieme.
Gerald says the self absorbed will ignore the real threat and blame Bush for it
And if you want to be paranoid read THIS

VietNam
, now that they got into the WTO, starts arresting and jailing pro democracy advocates.

And the good news story of the day: 16 year old girl takes over bus when driver passes out and saves 38 kids.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Cheese take four

Cheese take three


Another use for that old laser you have lying around:

Li and his co-worker Hongseok Choi and assessed the suitability of an ultraviolet laser for cutting and drilling slices of mild cheddar that were a few millimeters thick. Central to the study was the investigation of which wavelength and energy fluence give the best results.

Experiments with the third (355 nm) and fourth (266 nm) harmonics of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser demonstrated that a 266 nm beam is undoubtedly the preferred choice.....

To date, the team has focused on making high quality intricate cuts in 2.5 mm thick mild cheddar....

Cheese take two

The Sport of Cheeseracing....

CHEDDARCAM!

You know the expressions "watching the paint dry" or "watching the grass grow"?

Well, now you can watch the cheese ripen.

It must be interesting, because over the last three months, 400 000 people have logged onto the website. CHEDDARVISION.TV

They even have a downloadable screensaver, and you can subscribe to their Cheddar fan club.

Gift item of the day


The Blue Dog of Happiness...

Yes, I know it's usually the bluebird of happiness, but our cat sophie ate the bird...

You don't say?

Tagalog books

A bunch of Tagalog classics are on Project Gutenburg...

They also have AudioBooks...a wide selection from Fanny Hill to Peter Rabbit LINK

For the dour intellectuals out there, try THIS LINK....

Sigh. News of the day

Good News: MRI are good ways to screen for breast cancer
Bad news: They cost too much and there aren't enough docs to read the darn things.

BadNews: Zimbabwe arrests opposition leaders.
Worst News: Mugabe remains a hero because he is a marxist liberationist, and political correctness outweighs murder, starvation, and stupidity.

Bad news: UK LadyMarine "confesses"...Powerline has the video.
Good News: No one believes the confession was real. Attention Mullahs: "I am being fed 3 meals a day and have a constant supply of fluids." is NOT colloquial English.
Better news: Is Puti Pute helping his friend Bush?

Good News: WHO recommends a proven way to stop HIV.
Bad news: the newest prevention for HIV: Circumcision. It's the hygiene, stupid...

The Flying Immans and CAIR are suing the John Does who reported the immans strange behavior...Well, so far it backfired, with Congress passing a law against sueing airline passengers reporting suspicious behavior.

And of course now CafePress has the "I'm John Doe: Sue me" buttons for sale...

If you are wondering why I didn't blog about the so called "hostage" crisis in Manila, it's because essentially it was a publicity stunt by the guy who rand the daycare center. The kids were never in danger.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Bruno take three

Hey bruno

If the Italians don't get Bruno's body, which is sitting frozen in a Bavarian freezer, they might want to try the link for bear meat stew...

And ironically no, I've never eaten bear meat, even though black bears were common in the rural areas of the US where I lived and worked...

Bruno's Cuy recipe

Bruno the bear was shot because he ate "..."30 sheep, four rabbits and a guinea pig..."

Well, in honor of poor dead Bruno, I suggest you try this simple recipe from the above link

  • 4 cuys (i.e. large guinea pigs used for meat in Andean countries)
  • 1 teaspoon hot pepper
  • 1 tablespoon pisco
  • garlic to taste
  • 6 fresh hot peppers, either red or yellow
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • salt, pepper to taste Season the cleaned cuys with salt, pepper, hot pepper and pisco. Fry in oil five minutes or until cooked.

    Serve with a hot pepper sauce, potatoes, either fried or boiled and a salad of cucumber, tomato, lettuce and onion.

    Chicha is often served with cuy, as it was in Incan times.

  • Chicha is beer, by the way.

  • My adopted sons grew up in Colombia, and report their first mom always kept a breeding guinea pigs in the kitchen. They fed them veggies and grass, and periodically their mom would kill a few and stew or fry them for supper.
    And I disagree with the article in how they taste. They actually taste like pork, not rabbit.

    BBC Headlines beneath the fold

    I usually read the BBC because it covers African massacres and tyrants...but their other sections also are short and to the point...

    It's WAR: Italy angry at Germany about Bruno's death, demands body back...all 100 kg of it...
    Bruno wandered from Italy to Germany via Austria and was gunned down after eating 30 sheep, four rabbits and a guinea pig.

    Your headline of the day:Llama dung mites track Inca fall...

    The number one question of the day: How exactly do runaway parakeets manage to keep alive in the UK

    Have a question about anything, but don't like Wikipedia? Don't Panic...

    The REAL danger to the world: CANE TOADS

    Peace In Our Time

    Iran is scaring the Saudis so much they are trying to get the Palestinians to make peace with Israel:

    Under the plan, Arab nations would recognise Israel if Israel withdrew from all territories occupied in the 1967 war...which also allows for the creation of a Palestinian state and the return of Palestinian refugees.

    Ah, peace in out time...what's wrong with that? you might ask.

    Carolyn Glick answers:

    "...the Arab plan calls for Israel to surrender east, north and south Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights to Hamas and Syria and for Israel to permit four to five million hostile, foreign-born Arabs posing as Palestinian "refugees" to immigrate to its truncated territory. As the "peace" plan makes clear, all these suicidal Israeli moves must come before the Arab states will be willing to have "regular" (whatever that means) relations with the indefensible, overrun Jewish state..."

    And, as Merly Yourish notes, it lets the terrorists control Palestine while claiming they can't stop suicide bombers:

    "...There will not be negotiations after an agreement has been accepted. There will only be the Arab and Muslim side insisting that Israel live up to its side of the agreement, just as they did with the Road Map, while providing excuse after excuse on why the Palestinians could not live up to theirs. One more time: There will be no change to the agreement. Mashaal is in Saudi Arabia to make sure of it.

    ”Meshaal called on Arab leaders meeting in Riyadh to adopt a strategy based on the right to self-defence,” the official Saudi news agency SPA said.

    It added: “he said that conceding legitimate rights such as the right of return and the Palestinian people’s right to protection was unacceptable”.

    And Mashaal is calling for more murders armed struggle:

    Meshaal however said Monday that “Hamas will not renounce its armed resistance. Things are evolving in the favour of Arabs and Muslims, who should take advantage of the (current) situation” in the Middle East. The situation is not good neither for the Israelis nor for the Americans. The former are facing a profound domestic crisis of confidence while the United States is suffering one failure after another.”

    You see, I can find these news pieces. There are reporters at these conferences, and you can be sure there are AP and Reuters reporters or stringers at this conference—but these quotes never make it into the main AP and Reuters pieces. Why not?

    -------

    Hmmm...The United states is suffering one failure after another? Does he mean the Saudi charity funded bombs carried by Saudi born suicide bombers in Iraq?

    The Saudis are spending millions to bribe US elites under the guise of promoting "understanding", of Islam, but one rarely sees news reports that connects the dots.

    Does he mean the Saudi funded CAIR trying to stop passenger screening of Arabs by suing airline passengers who find their behavior aggressive? Does he mean Saudi funded think tanks in major American Universities, which of course allows those leading these think tanks to inject Saudi propaganda into the editorial pages of major newspapers?

    How about Saudi funded "charities" such as the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) who essentially are "front groups", using their charitable works to hide funding and money laundering to al-Qaida and related terrorist groups including those in the Philippines who have been linked with Alqaeda bombs of malls, airplanes, and ferries? Or the Arab Bank that funds Hamas and pays families of suicide bombers who kill Israelis and others in Israel, including Americans and Pinays who visit or work there?

    Sorry, but there are almost a million pinoys working in Saudi Arabia who cannot practice freedom of religion. When my cousins don't have to throw away their rosaries to work at Saudi hospitals, and when Pinoys Keralan Christians can bring in their personal bibles and hold Mass and bible study in private apartments, then maybe I'll believe they just might, might be willing to give up their rabid aggressive fundamentalism and actually support "live and let live" with the Jews in Israel.

    Tuesday, March 27, 2007

    Happy Birthday Sir Elton

    Turn up speakers and enjoy

    Really important news of the day

    Anne Nichole Smith Still dead.
    Died of an overdose. Gee, d'ya think...

    Stem cells work.
    Adult stem cells from your own muscles grow and make weak heart muscles stronger.

    Fraud worries
    in embryonic stem cell lab grant.
    Hint to Arnold: That's why they couldn't get private investors to invest money.

    Sometime they aren't suicide bombers....merely crocodile smugglers

    Back to the Fallout shelters...it's easy to make fun of the fifties, but with the Mullahs acting up, old lessons need to be relearned.

    And finally. You know that old laser you have lying around your garage? Well it makes a good Mr. Coffee...

    Monday, March 26, 2007

    Spinach ! take three

    Stir fried shrimp with spinach and peanut sauce recipe. Drink with milk and have an orange for dessert.

    Spinach's contribution to peace take two

    Spinich's contribution to peace

    "...A subplot in Congress's debate over war funding is how lawmakers deal with nondefense add-ons for pet projects...."

    The CSmonitor then lists them. The numbers mean that many million dollars for each project.The entire spending bill is 1 billion total.

    $500 Emergency wildfire suppression
    400 Rural schools
    283 Milk subsidies
    140 Shrimp and fishing industries that suffered losses after hurricane Katrina
    100 Citrus growers for losses from hurricanes Katrina or Rita
    74 Peanut storage
    60 Salmon fisheries in the Klamath River region in California and Oregon
    50 Asbestos removal from the US Capitol power plant
    48 Salaries and expenses for the Farm Service Agency
    35 Risk mitigation at NASA's Stennis Space Center on the Gulf Coast
    25 Spinach growers
    25 Hurricane compensation for livestock producers
    16 Security upgrades to House of Representative office buildings
    10 Flood control along the Rio Grande River


    Ah, Dahling...I just love country life



    Headsup from Fausta's blog, commenting on the NYTimes article about a year without toilet paper...
    My essay on why those who have to live the simple life prefer the city, and the pros and cons of globalization is HERE

    You Tube...tit for tat

    Direct From Iraq:

    YOU TUBE
    Why should only the terrorists be able to have videos on Youtube?

    Tolkien Festivals

    quick before they put it into the archive: NYT Travel section discusses Tolkienmania, the new book and dressing up like Frodo...

    They have a list of Festivals to meet fellow Hobbits.

    No festivals recently here, but there is a Philippine Tolkien Society...and they often dress up at the SciFi/Fantasy convention in Manila.

    Headlines below the fold

    The Iranians decided to kidnap British Marines to get some of their military "advisers" to the Iraqi death squads back, and the question is if the European Union will prevail with their "can't we all get along" or if Blair will do a Thatcher and get them back.

    Since Nancy Pelosi is still planning ways to lose the war in the US, things look like surrender are on the menu...Ah, Peace in our time...

    Mugabe is still cornered...and top headline on Google: Mugabe is a hero how dare you criticize him.
    Right.

    Father Groeschel has a profile in the NYTimes...

    BBC reports why no one reports the thousands of riots going on in China...LINK
    The most startling part of their report:"On any given day in China there may be 200 different protests.

    Here in the Philippines it's election year, so Gloria says she's going eliminate hunger...

    Sunday, March 25, 2007

    Stuff

    Want to send a gift to someone you love?
    Got lots of money?
    Well, how about a HelloKitty Diamond ring?


    And after buying your love the diamond, you probably can't afford a prom dress...
    So, just go out there and make one from Ducktape..and then send a photo to the Duck tape Prom Dress contest


    Want to email someone but don't want the bother of a permanent email address? GuerillaMail can help.



    Ever want to tell another driver how you feel? Just buy a
    Driving Emoticon...when a simple finger won't work--



    Finally: Your craft item of the day: The art of the Bonsai potato

    Calling Mrs. Thatcher...

    The headlines claim the Brits admit to being inside Iran, but of course that's what Iran claims, not what others who saw the abduction claim.
    Pajamasmedia has up to dates, and includes people who are in the know. One article claims the decision was made over a week ago...because the US had arrested so many Iranian military who were helping the Iraqi militants... LINK

    Well, I may have solved Firefox bookmark problem

    In the past I had to redownload from Yahoo bookmarks or IE...

    But Firefox has a new add on that will keep track of them for me, and keeps them filed.

    Neat stuff

    Doing academic research? Check out the Stingy scholar's recommendations for Firefox toolbar.LINK

    LINK gives a map telling you if you had an earthquake...

    How about the Weather Channel photo of the day? LINK...includes screensaver.

    Have an IPOD video? This site will convert films to mp4 files...

    Black vs white? Presumably the these people (not to mention anarchists in Barcelona)don't count, since they weren't British intellectuals.

    Want to eat like your ancestors did? LINK.
    anyone?
    (headsup from the Kirchnersociety )

    And your video of the day: Drums

    Separated at birth?

    does Armadinajad look a lot like Ringo Starr?
    (headsup from itcomesinpints? Blog)

    Praying for cheese

    Your cute overload photo of the day

    Saturday, March 24, 2007

    Trivia

    The world's largest model railroad LINK...someone obviously has too much time on his hands.

    32 things you can do with beer LINK.
    Actually, I always used it to rinse my hair...
    The list includes the BeerBread recipe. YUM.

    (both headsup from FARK)

    You have heard of "don't ask, don't tell"? well, here it's "don't sway"...link

    And Philippines is number one....for Asian spam...

    LINK...forget the game...turn up speakers for the music.

    Headlines below the fold

    LINKHow mosquitoes find their targets....easy to answer. They just look around and when the spot me they ring the dinner bell...

    I have written elsewhere that what keeps fellow African leaders from condemning his tyranny is that they are similar Marxist liberators. But maybe things are changing LINK

    Philip Jenkins has a long interesting interview where he disagrees with those shouting Europe is becoming Muslim. He points out the population explosion in the middle East will calm down by 2020, that most Muslims are more ethnic moderates than rabid bigots, the importance of church as community, and that the lack of civility in political discourse might have a blowback when Hillary takes over.
    (thanks for the "headsup" from the roving Medievalist)

    Iran seizes British soldiers inside of Iraqi waters...
    Sounds like the mullahs have placed a "kick me" sign on their bottoms.

    And the good news of the day: The number of Tuberculosis cases in the world have leveled off.
    Ignore the parts of the article that laud "treatment". The dirty little secret is that it's the improvement of nutrition and increased wealth that stops indoor crowding that leads to the decline of the disease
    Alltogether now: It's the obesity stupid...

    Cheese Bus start food fight

    Your weird headline of the day...

    Actually it's discussing how bacteriophages make bacteria sick and ruin cheese.

    Friday, March 23, 2007

    Heh


    I was Nominated for Home and Living award...LINK

    Guess they like Col. Updraft's jokes!

    Yuppies playing at conservation

    I am aghast at the excesses and wastage of upper class Americans, (or the rich Philippino families here) but as one who has lived much of her adult life in rural areas of the US, Africa and now Asia, seeing rich yuppies "pretending" to live poor is even more absurd.

    That is what disturbs me about this self indulgent attempt to live a "no impact" lifestyle. BLOG LINK
    A wiser way to live would be simplicity. Like the Amish. Or like the lifestyles of many rural people. Or the life of a Trappist Monk.

    The ideal is NOT Walden Pond, the simple life? Well, not really. You see, he was rich enough not to have to work to earn a living. And Thoreau cut trees down for his house and to keep warm, so his live was not exactly "low impact"... and the dirty little secret is that he got tired of his primitive diet and ate with friends at least once a week...and he was "hygienically challenged" which is probably why he was a bachelor.

    Thursday, March 22, 2007

    Adopt a squid


    Just what you always wanted...a ten foot overpriced plush red squid.

    LINK2

    Yum...Dolphin

    Calimari take three: SQUIDBLOG

    check out their neat photos

    Calimari take two

    Are giant squid real?
    Yes. More real than you can possibly imagine. Or at least as real. We are real.

    Are giant squid the biggest animals alive?
    Alas no, we are not even the biggest of the squid. Our brethren, the colossal squid hold that title. But at up to 13m (44 ft) in length I think you will agree we are pretty large. And we have 3 foot long penises. The males, that is. Really, we do.

    Is it true that giant squids are the most graceful, powerful and yet mysterious of god's creatures?
    That is correct.

    What do giant squid eat?
    We eat fish and smaller squid. Since ascending to the surface, I have developed a fondness for oreos, banana sandwiches and enchiladas.

    How do you connect to a computer?
    I have a specially-modified tentacle-friendly interface, which I refer to as my squinterface

    Yum! calimari

    WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A colossal half-ton squid, believed to be the largest ever caught, may be destined for the microwave oven.

    But researchers say they don't want to cook the massive creature - just defrost it so they can study it better....At the time it was caught, O'Shea said it would make calamari rings the size of tractor tyres if cut up - but they would taste like ammonia.

    The recipe for Adobo Pusit is HERE
    We usually cook it with pork...the ink makes the gravy/"ulam" delicious, although it looks horrid.

    If you want more recipes, try HERE.

    Lolo and classmate

    Lolo's classmate was up visiting her sister in Bulacan. Thanks to the new North Luzon expressway, it only took two hours to get there.

    We took two cars, and all of us had lunch with them (shrimp, fish, rice, Pinoy veggies, mangos) and then Chano went off with Joy to Manila...he's trying to get an exporter to arrange to sell his furniture outside of the Philippines. We stayed for another hour looking at her sister's 80th birthday party photos and then came home.
    So I won't be doing much more blogging today.

    English lesson for today

    Let's face it - English is a crazy language. T here is no egg in
    eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
    English muffins weren 't invented in England or French fries in France.
    Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
    We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find
    that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea
    pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

    And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese?
    One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends
    but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid
    of all but one of them, what do you call it?

    If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian
    eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all
    the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the
    verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and
    play at a recital ? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that
    run and feet that smell?

    How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man
    and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique
    lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in
    which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

    English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the
    creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.

    Your email of the day from Col. Updraft

    Headlines below the fold

    Congress is shocked, shocked that some VA hospitals are in bad shape...
    Wait till they start checking the IHS....
    The problem when the Feds run a hospital is that getting things fixed or upgraded takes forever. The paperwork is the priority...

    Alternative energy? Check out this film...link.

    Drug resistant bubonic plague? Not good news.

    Zimbabwe "like Titanic"...yup, an aged captain that doesn't recognize when he's steering the ship wrong and then tries to keep people from getting in lifeboats...

    And finally, Rest in Peeps, Anne Nicole Smith...

    Wednesday, March 21, 2007

    Garrison Keillor on monogamy

    I grew up the child of a mixed-gender marriage that lasted until death parted them, and I could tell you about how good that is for children, and you could pay me whatever you think it's worth.

    Back in the day, that was the standard arrangement. Everyone had a yard, a garage, a female mom, a male dad, and a refrigerator with leftover boiled potatoes in plastic dishes with snap-on lids. This was before caller ID, before credit cards, before pizza, for crying out loud. You could put me in a glass case at the history center and schoolchildren could press a button and ask me questions.

    Monogamy put the parents in the background where they belong and we children were able to hold center stage. We didn't have to contend with troubled, angry parents demanding that life be richer and more rewarding for them. We blossomed and agonized and fussed over our outfits and learned how to go on a date and order pizza and do the twist and neck in the front seat of a car back before bucket seats when you could slide close together, and we started down the path toward begetting children while Mom and Dad stood like smiling, helpless mannequins in the background.

    Nature is about continuation of the species -- in other words, children. Nature does not care about the emotional well-being of older people....

    Ah, the good old days when ADULTS got married.

    Whoops I'm blocked in China

    Guess they don't like Col. Updraft's jokes...
    Go to test site and check your own site.

    headlines under the fold

    Children used as suicide bombers...hark. Listen to the loud voices of outrage....not

    another report about Russia mad at Iran about unpaid bills...so may nost complete their reactor..I read somewhere that Iran was lousy at paying their bills to everyone, so it might not be Putin trying to help Bush and Israel...

    Are the police turning against Mugabe? I wrote on my EvilMugabe blog that his latest violence against the prayer rally is overplaying his hand, since he has opponants in his own party, military recruits complaining about poor pay (due to inflation) and now the police upset. Alas, his "wild card" are his "green bomber" youth militia that have been trained in terror...IHT says it's the tipping point...well, maybe...

    Coal disaster in Russia...there also have been a couple mine collapses and deaths in China. As the song goes: There's blood on the coal...

    Stopping malaria by building a malaria resistant mosquito...and next, a dengue resistant mosquito...

    Buzz Aldrin on the Grand Canyon skyway...why not Neil Armstrong? On the other hand, Jim Lovell got a movie made about him...

    Tuesday, March 20, 2007

    English lesson for today


    >> Can you read these right the first time?
    >>
    >> 1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
    >>
    >> 2) The farm was used to produce produce .
    >>
    >> 3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
    >>
    >> 4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
    >>
    >> 5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
    >>
    >> 6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
    >>
    >> 7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present .
    >>
    >> 8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
    >>
    >> 9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
    >>
    >> 10) I did not object to the object
    >>
    >> 11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
    >>
    >> 12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row .
    >>
    >> 13) They were too close to the door to close it.
    >>
    >> 14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
    >>
    >> 15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
    >>
    >> 16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
    >>
    >> 17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
    >>
    >> 18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
    >>
    >> 19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
    >>
    >> 20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?


    your email of the day from Col. Updraft

    Family News

    Ito one year anniversary

    Photos on web album.
    We held Ito's first anniversary celebration today. also check LINK for headlines March 1-15.

    Helen is looking better: not as haggard now.

    Monday, March 19, 2007

    Ipod Flea


    video here

    Or how about a helloKitty Ipod? LINK2

    Carnival of the cats!

    Time for a cat break.

    -------------
    and here are some Cat quotes
    "In the beginning, God created man, but seeing him so feeble, He gave him the cat."
    - Warren Eckstein

    "A home without a cat- and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat- may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?"
    - Pudd'nhead Wilson

    "If animals could speak the dog would be a a blundering outspoken fellow, but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much."
    - Mark Twain

    "A cat is more intelligent than people believe, and can be taught any crime."
    -Mark Twain Notebook, 1895

    "I simply can't resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl you love, of course."
    - Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field, Fisher

    "Of all God's creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat."
    - Mark Twain Notebook, 1894

    "You can keep a dog; but it is the cat who keeps people, because cats find humans useful domestic animals."
    - George Mikes from "How to be decadent

    "Dogs come when they're called. Cats take a message and get back to you."
    - Mary Bly

    "For a man to truly understand rejection, he must first be ignored by a cat."
    - Anon

    Extrajudicial killings?

    The US and the UN tell Gloria to stop "extrajudicial killings"....Right.
    Ah, those in the government ask, aren't you worried about those killed by the NPA?
    Strategypage agrees, but notes a lot of killing is politicians killing their rivals, and the NPA killing politicians and business leaders who won't bribe them.

    Will someone tell me

    why firefox always loses my bookmarks?

    Yesterday, they were blank again, so I "imported" them form IE7....and ended up with five copies of each link, so had to spend an hour erasing them...alas, new links are lost. But since I usually place the favorites on my blog, it's not too bad...

    Will see if the newest Opera works better than the old one. Sigh.

    News below the fold

    PJ O'Rourke was wrong. PJ O'Rourke once said that the reason conservatives don't demonstrate was that "we have jobs"...but Viet Nam vets, galvanized by reports of vandalism at previous anti war demonstrations and reports of plans by some to deface the Viet Nam War memorial, decided enough is enough...even for conservative.

    Angelina Joilie, housewife? Actually, many adoption agencies ask you to stay at home for a year after adopting young kids.

    Everything you wanted to know about Canadian butterflies but were afraid to ask.

    No better friend, no worse enemy...no, not the Marines, the Arabs in Anbar province, who are angry that their relatives were gassed by (mainly foreign) AlQaeda terrorists.

    Mark Steyn thoughtfully asks: is anti western self loathing merely a way to shrug off responsibility in helping our neighbor?

    Hallelujah BoingBoing points out that although Stephen Colbert is no longer on Youtube, we can watch clips at ifilm.

    Jack Sparrow is back and other spoilers about POTC3.

    Family news

    Check the March 1-15 news on NuevaEcija Journal about Ito.

    Globalization and onions.


    Elitist journalists (often from elite families who learned Marxism at colleges) and Catholic clergy and nuns still spout the old meme about evil rich people vs poor people, and how the wave of the future that will bring prosperity to the Philippines is anti globalization.
    Here's one example:
    LINK

    Well, it's a bit more complicated than that.

    Let's take the quote: "Yet, while the deaths have had a chilling effect on older activists, they have galvanized the youth on the Left.".

    Actually, most of the smartest and hardest working youth are studying nursing to get a green card, or signing up for Saudi. That leaves guilt ridden upper class youth, "red diaper" babies, the clergy, and unemployed boys who think going to demonstrations to meet girls is fun.

    P.J. O'Rourke was once asked why the leftists always could get big demonstrations in the US but the conservatives could not. He answered: "Because we have jobs".

    And so when ten percent of your hardest working people work overseas, and another ten to twenty percent of the hardest workers are fundamentalist protestants who are anti communist, it sort of limits the job pool for demonstrations.

    Actually, G.Gloria is right about one thing: That China's policy of keeping their currancy artificially low is destroying local industry. However, the left has no real answer to that.

    Let's take her examples: Shoes. We make sandals here. The cheap sandals that everyone wears (called "flipflops" in the USA) are made in China. But the nicely designed sandals with beads and fashionable design are made here.

    Let's take another example: The scandal about onions. It is cheaper to import them from the European Union and China than grow them. As a result, our farmers are losing money.

    But if you are a poor worker in Manila, do you benefit from paying 30 pesos a kilogram instead of 60 pesos a kg for onions?

    The same thing could be said about rice. Our family grows gourmet organic brown rice. We are hoping to expand to export it in the next few years. If we do, other local farmers will be able to work in a coop with us, and use organic fertilizer and no pesticide to grow rice. So instead of selling raw rice at 10 pesos a kg (which after milling is sold from 20 to 28 pesos per kg) they could sell to our coop, and get a higher price.

    That's how globalization works. Personally, I think people should buy and sell locally. But until the price of transportation (read oil) goes up, I don't see much that preaching the brotherhood of man is going to put rice on the table of local people.

    Sunday, March 18, 2007

    signs you are being stalked by a leprechaun


    • Generic-looking green van parked across the street with Notre Dame bumper sticker.
    • Every time you turn around the pitter-pattering stops and that green fire hydrant seems to have gotten a little closer.
    • Card delivered with the bouquet of 4-leaf clovers reads, “I bet you’re magically delicious!”
    • When you come home from work, the potatoes are missing from the cupboard and your parrot is singing “Danny Boy.”
    • Sultry voice from shower soap dish asks, “Is that your shillelagh, or are you just happy to see me?”
    • Pink hearts, yellow moons, blue diamonds scratched on your car at knee-level, and Ross Perot is nowhere to be found.
    • Them little green pellets in the litter box ain’t M&M’s, Chester.

    from Pajamasmedia and the Daily Brief

    ———

    Forbidden humor

    Some students in the land of Monty Python are "in hiding from Islamic extremists, and facing prosecution from the school and UK authorities"...

    Yup. Guess what they made fun of...

    Pi conspiracy files

    Put your favorite date into the pi search page, and they will find the numbers in Pi...

    Sort of a math version of the Bible Code.

    OH MY LOOK AT THIS:

    Results

    Searchstart: 9 The string 091101 occurs at position 8,267 counting from the first digit after the decimal point. The 3. is not counted.

    The string and surrounding digits:

    05297634757481193567 091101 37751721008031559024

    Ohmy I knew it was a conspiracy! PI predicted the attack....it's the ancient Greek's fault...

    Gift Item of the day

    A SUPERPI tee shirt..

    "It's a bird...it's a plane...no, it's pi! And just like Superman, the world's most important mathematical constant comes to the rescue, keeping the world in a circular orbit, and making sure that frisbees don't have gastly corners to poke out your eyes. This shirt is 100% pre-shrunk cotton and comes in Superman blue..."

    ------------------
    More PI tee shirts HERE. If you can't memorize pi to 1000 digits, just buy the tee shirt.

    Google banned in your country?

    Try this google mirror site...

    brought to you by All too flat web site.

    The Calculus song

    If you want to sing about irrational numbers, you can sing about pi. Or if you like higher math, try the song at the link.

    the first verse goes:
    Oh, Calculus, Oh, Calculus,
    How tough are both your branches.
    Oh, Calculus, Oh, Calculus,
    To pass, what are my chances?
    Derivatives I cannot take,
    At integrals my fingers shake.
    Oh, Calculus, Oh, Calculus,
    How tough are both your branches.

    Pi: The song

    Full lyrics here

    The chorus goes:
    CHORUS:
    A D A E
    Pi, pi, mathematical pi
    A D A E
    3 point 14 15 92
    A D A E
    65 35 89 7
    F#m B7
    932384 62
    F#m E7
    6433832 7 (not rounded)
    You can download the mp3 HERE

    Or you can sing the PI Rap song.

    Or for the older generation, here are Pi Day Carols.

    How to calculate Pi....using frozen hotdogs

    Your science lesson of the day from Improbable research

    Or if you don't like to do research, just try These Hints for memorizing it...

    And This page has the number pie for you to memorize: up to 1 million places...

    Saturday, March 17, 2007

    Stuff Saturday

    If we hadn't been away, and if Zimbabwe wasn't on the front page, I'd usually be blogging "stuff" on Saturday.

    But check Blueteablog. She hasn't updated but her place is full of neat links, and those links have links.

    For example: Flipper is happy here

    Or how about a vampire bunny?

    And here is a commercial for the TiddyBear...

    Or how about a Camel Robot?...LINK2

    Misunderstanding mental illness

    A sad story of paranoid schizophrenia, and how courts and human rights activists misunderstand that someone living in a delusion cannot make a free choice.

    I'd blog on it, but it's 90 degrees and we have a brown out, and our backup generator won't run the computer AND the aircon.

    St. Patrick's day Joke

    An Irish priest is driving down to New York and gets stopped for speeding in Connecticut . The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath and then sees an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car.

    He says, "Sir, have you been drinking?"

    "Just water," says the priest.

    The trooper says, "Then why do I smell wine?"

    The priest looks at the bottle and says, "Good Lord! He's done it again!"

    Your email of the day from Col Updraft

    recipe of the day

    A shamrock shake:

    Ingredient Amount
    Creme de Menthe, green 1 oz.
    Vodka 1/2 oz.
    Mint 1 sprig
    Ice Cream, vanilla 1 scoop

    Glass to Use

    Coupe
    Mixing Instructions

    Blend ingredients in a blender at low speed until smooth. Pour into a chilled coupe or coupette glass and garnish with a sprig of mint. Serve with a straw.

    More drink recipes HERE

    Yum: Grape Juice

    Good News: Grape Juice has more anti oxidants than Orange Juice.
    Bad News: NO proof that anti oxidants work...

    on the other hand, just think of how good it looks when it spills on your new rug.

    The Unsung heroes of Iraq

    "...At one end of the small room is 25-year old Ayman. He wears a warm-up jacket, his right hand tucked in the pocket. His left hand cradles a 9mm pistol. Around his neck are silver dog tags and religious charms, talismans given to him by U.S. Marines. One is St. Michael, the patron saint of police and protection.

    Across his chest is a holster with another pistol. In a country where a pistol is a status symbol, Ayman has two because he cannot reload quickly enough in a firefight. He was kidnapped in Ramadi in 2004 by men who held him for 89 days and then chopped off his right hand and his left leg.

    'It`s not just me. I lost a lot of friends,' says Ayman, reluctantly recalling the experience. 'We`ve got a lot of people who lost a leg. They are in Haditha, (and in) al-Qaim.'

    To Tracy`s right is Col. Faroq Tayeh Hardan, 37, the police chief. He has also paid a steep price for standing up....


    Col. Faroq`s brother and another policeman were kidnapped on the road to Bayji. The attackers cut off his brother`s head and put it on a stake in the middle of the traffic circle, a warning to Faroq and any others who would oppose them. The body of Faroq`s brother has never been recovered.

    'I come out here and Faroq`s in tears, and tearing his hair out and saying `we`re all gonna quit. I can`t believe I cast my lot with the coalition!' Tracy said.

    Tracy asked him what he wanted to do.

    'He said, `Let`s go. I know where the number one al-Qaida guy is.` '

    After months of attacks on his station and an ongoing firefight at his base Col. Faroq only had 10 officers left....

    Computer news

    US Govt bans Windows Vista...
    There are security concerns, and Vista might not run the gov'ts expensive software programs.

    If you read down further, you find the FAA is wondering if they should consider alternatives to Microsoft as an Operating system and software, switching to Linux and Google's online applications.

    LINK discusses various windows version. Actually, I love XP, but for most of what I do, Windows 98 would do fine.

    LearnOutLoud has a bunch of free downloads/podcasts.
    I usually load these things into my MP3 player, and when we turn off the lights, listen to them. It's better than a sleeping pill...

    And for all of you who play games at work: The Beauty of the Boss Button....

    Zim Blog Burst!

    A Zimbabwean in the Netherlands suggests a blogburst...and to email the nearest embassy...his link is to their embassy in Stockholm...and he includes a sample letter.
    If you have nothing to do, send her a line. Her email name, mbuya means grandmom or my lady.

    As for what's going on, I have an entire blog about it EvilMugabeBlog

    Check link at Sokwanele HERE and check this news report...

    WOT: just ignore those guys shouting allah allah

    The Minneapolis StarTribune story points out that CAIR and the skinny praying Mullahs who asked for seat extenders and changed their seats to the best seats to hijack an airline aren't just suing the airlines (deep pockets Kaching alert) but the passengers who worried about their strange behavior.

    CAIR may be overextending their credibility when it takes money from the Saudis, the home of 11 of 12 9-11 hijackers and many Iraqi suicide bombers. As this group, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, points out:

    "Recent considerable donations to CAIR upwards of a combined $100 million from foreign nations like Dubai and Saudi Arabia make these types of costly, distractive actions against domestic airlines such as US Airways very concerning in its manifestation of foreign interference."...
    -------------------

    In other WOT news, Iraq the model discusses Iraqi Shiite Arabs rejecting Iranian Shiite influence. ITM, it should be noted, is a Sunni Arab dentist living in Baghdad.

    AsiaNews remembers the attack on the pope. Back then, the Pinoy police were aware that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was part of the plot. Yet his confession yesterday was merely called a "confession" and not high in the headlines. Earth to MSM: The Pinoy police are not Republicans...(headsup Pajamasmedia)

    Joe Lieberman, who won election against the Koskid's favorite candidate, warns the Democrats to get real..And Howard Fineman says that Hillary believes the same thing. If Guilliani runs, Hillary will have the choice between lying about what she knows about terrorism, being Golda Meir, or having a third party "anti war" candidate run against her.

    Hammm...Hillary As Golda Meir...you go girl...

    Family news

    Lolo got his new dental Bridge yesterday in Manila. Cost him $200, but the dentist is a friend and she didn't charge fee for her time.

    Chano has a booth in the trade fair. Lots of people like his orchid lamps. If we can get the electrical circuits approved, we may have an exporter for a large order, and will have to subcontract with capiz workers in Bulacan.

    He was interviewed by ABS CBN, a major network...or rather Joy was interviewed since the interview was in Tagalog, and his Tagalog is slow and with an accent. (Tagalog here is spoken faster than the Mexicans speak Spanish or New Yorkers speak English...)

    I'll post links if I can find it. We watched them make a short segment on lemongrass oil for massage (massage here is a common way to treat pain and arthritis...when Lolo had his stroke, we got a lady to do massage and exercize since the local hospital didn't have a PT department back then).

    Will update later.

    Friday, March 16, 2007

    Headlines under the fold

    Zimbabwe news HERE.
    The beatings get publicity, the quiet deaths of malnutrition from Mugabe's bad economic policies do not.

    Climate change ended AngorWat.LINK
    No, not global warming, but global cooling in the "little ice age". The dirty little secret is that climatewise we're going back to the good old days of 1100...

    But it doesn't matter: We're all gonna die: Yellowstone is acting up...this supervolcano could wipe out the US heartland and cause global cooling...

    Good news for Pinoys. Barbara Boxer just ordered the stop of "extra judicial killings"...
    Right.
    I'm glads she worried about the PC leftists being shot by rouge military elements but why doesn't she condemn killings of ex NPA members by the NPA? Or for that matter, why not condemn the NPA when they kill mayors or kidnap businessmen? And what about the private hitmen where businessmen and politicians kill their opponants? Plenty of killings to condemn, but I guess Boxer only cares if you are dead by the government.

    And another pseudoscientific study prooving that prayer works LINK.
    As a scientist, this is nonsense. I mean, there is no control group. What did the scientists do, order all the friends and relatives of the "control" group not to pray?


    Irish sculpture makes a Waterford crystal tribute to Father Judge and the NY Firemen. LINK2

    Thursday, March 15, 2007

    Happy Pi Day

    Actually it's March 14th...

    Pi, Greek letter (pi), is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. It is approximately 22/7 and is usually calculated to 3 digits, 3.14. With the use of computers, Pi has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits past the decimal. Pi is an irrational number meaning it will continue infinitely without repeating. The symbol for pi, pi, was first used in 1737 by William Jones, but was popular after it was adopted by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1737.

    They have a dicsussion on the webpage about Why do we love Pi?

    i love pi because it makes things go round.

    I love pi because I, too, am irrational.

    I love Pi because I believe God put it there to give us a tiny, tiny glimpse of infinity.

    3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679 8214808651 3282306647 0938446095 5058223172 5359408128 4811174502 8410270193 8521105559 6446229489 5493038196 4428810975 6659334461 2847564823 3786783165 2712019091 4564856692 3460348610 4543266482 1339360726 0249141273 7245870066 0631558817 4881520920 9628292540 9171536436 7892590360 0113305305 4882046652 1384146951 9415116094 3305727036 5759591953 0921861173 8193261179 3105118548 0744623799 6274956735 1885752724 8912279381 8301194912 9833673362 4406566430 8602139494 6395224737 1907021798 6094370277 0539217176 2931767523 8467481846 7669405132 0005681271 4526356082 7785771342 7577896091 7363717872 1468440901 2249534301 4654958537 1050792279 6892589235 4201995611 2129021960 8640344181 5981362977 4771309960 5187072113 4999999837 2978049951 0597317328 1609631859 5024459455 3469083026 4252230825 3344685035 2619311881 7101000313 7838752886 5875332083 8142061717 7669147303 5982534904 2875546873 1159562863 8823537875 9375195778 1857780532 1712268066 1300192787 6611195909 2164201989...

    Headlines, we have headlines

    Robert Kagan likes what he sees in Iraq.
    NBC's Brian Williams recently reported a dramatic change in Ramadi since his previous visit. The city was safer; the airport more secure. The new American strategy of "getting out, decentralizing, going into the neighborhoods, grabbing a toehold, telling the enemy we're here, start talking to the locals -- that is having an obvious and palpable effect." U.S. soldiers forged agreements with local religious leaders and pushed al-Qaeda back -- a trend other observers have noted in some Sunni-dominated areas. The result, Williams said, is that "the war has changed."

    It is no coincidence that as the mood and the reality have shifted, political currents have shifted as well. A national agreement on sharing oil revenue appears on its way to approval. The Interior Ministry has been purged of corrupt officials and of many suspected of torture and brutality. And cracks are appearing in the Shiite governing coalition -- a good sign, given that the rock-solid unity was both the product and cause of growing sectarian violence.

    There is still violence, as Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda seek to prove that the surge is not working. However, they are striking at more vulnerable targets in the provinces. Violence is down in Baghdad. As for Sadr and the Mahdi Army, it is possible they may reemerge as a problem later. But trying to wait out the American and Iraqi effort may be hazardous if the public becomes less tolerant of their violence. It could not be comforting to Sadr or al-Qaeda to read in the New York Times that the United States plans to keep higher force levels in Iraq through at least the beginning of 2008. The only good news for them would be if the Bush administration in its infinite wisdom starts to talk again about drawing down forces.


    Congress probably doesn't, making Roger Simon ask: "You remember - those folks who are confused about the difference between Sunnis and Shiites..."
    He also points out how a high level Iranian defector is showing evidence about the extent of Iran's involvement (and the Saudis are also involved: See: LINK )

    And, what headline do you expect to see on a report that civilian deaths in Baghdad have gone from 265 from 1,440 and that the number of car bombs was down to 36 from 56?

    U.S. says car bombs a concern despite Baghdad plan

    of course.

    Report from Harare

    And check out the comments at above link.

    Wednesday, March 14, 2007

    And the Dan Rather award for being ignorant of fonts goes to....

    The showoffs who made The Tomb of someguy names Jesus Film. One of their big claims was that someone with different DNA had the name "Mary the teacher" on it, meaning it was mary Magdalen.

    Whoops

    a Scholar trained in "paleographics" points out the Mary magdalen inscription was Mary Martha, written by two different hands.LINK has the photos and explanation.
    And indeed, even I can see the M, A and P are shaped differently...




    Film maker shrugs, and instead of answering the criticism in a scientific way merely answers that the scholars' are jealous for journalists "casting light into their ossuary monopoly."

    The problem is that journalists don't tend to know much about fonts and inscriptions. That's how the Dan Rather letters were discovered to be forgeries. The science of fonts and handwriting and inscriptions is a specialty, and I suspect the film makers, like Rather, only used general experts to confirm their findings, not real scholars who specialized in that area.



    Right.

    Gift Item of the day

    The LEGO BUILD A BOB...


    Just when you thought things couldn’t get any wackier in Bikini Bottom…Plankton has taken over SpongeBob's brain and is making him do some wild things! Plankton can make SpongeBob spin his eyes, shoot jellyfish from his mouth, and change SpongeBob’s expression from a frown to a smile.

    We're number one...in corruption

    LINK
    It's the fault of the opposition...LINK

    Headlines below the fold

    The Good News: Suitcase bombs are not a likely threat.
    The bad news: Dirty bombs are. ...LINK

    Good News: Al Gore expands into a UK TV network.
    Bad news: It's a cure for insomnia.


    Imagine you asked a dozen strangers to make a short video describing an unusual aspect of their life, an interest of theirs or a person they considered noteworthy. Then imagine you watched all 12 films in a row, knowing neither what was coming next nor if it would capture your attention. This is roughly how it feels to watch an hour of Current TV.

    Just what the world was waiting for: A network that broadcasts Youtube rejects.


    Psst: What to know where Ben Laden is hiding? Try Google Earth...link

    Betty Hutton died...her ups and downs might make a fascinating movie.

    Germany's Merkel opposes the US anti missle shield based in Poland.
    Ok, how about this. If the Iranian missle is aimed at Berlin, we won't shoot it down...Happy now?

    Good news: Sleeping pill that woke up brain damaged is being studied in larger numbers of patients, and seems to work.
    Bad news: Terry Schiavo is still dead.

    LINK NYTimes has an article on soldiers in rehab...if I get ambitious I might post an essay on rehab and medicines for the brain damaged.

    Pope's new encyclical is on the Eucharist...your lenten reading...Summary here
    If watching Gore's network doesn't put hou to sleep, you can read this.

    First they objected to blind people with dogs, then they refused to transport airline passengers carrying booze, and now: Pizza.
    Sigh.

    The Bad News: The Mullahs hate the film "300"... it wasn't the naked bodies they objected to, it was because the film insulted Xerxes, a mass murdering tyrant, by portraying him as an effeminate mass murdering tyrant...LINK

    The Good News: their moviepirates are as efficient as ours, and you can buy it bootlegged copies in Tehran...

    Craft of the day

    PAPER CRAFT
    Momo-no-Sekku
    Hina-Ningyou
    Hina-Ningyou

    Hina Matsuri is on March 3. This "Festival of Dolls" (also called, "The Girl's Festival") is the day on which wishes are made for the future happiness of all girls. A set of dolls dressed in costumes, originally worn in the royal court in ancient times, are displayed with peach blossoms decorations.

    Free Kareem

    The reviewing Court agrees that blogging criticisms of Egyptian government and religious hypocrites deserve a four year jail time.
    Prosecuting lawyer Mohamed Dawoud’s statement: “I hope every judge, if they get a similar case, will give the same judgment, based on the wishes of God.”;
    - Elijah Zarwan, of Human Rights Watch in Cairo, tells CNN: Kareem’s imprisonment is a “chilling precedent”

    Tuesday, March 13, 2007

    Medical trivia

    Obesity surgery is causing vitamin deficiency, and even a couple cases of Wernicke's encephalopathy, which we docs usually only see nowadays in drunks. If you really want to read my essay with links, it's HERE

    But cheer up. Fat isn't all that bad. Did you know fat people have a lower suicide rate?

    Remember that study about CT scans picking up lung cancer? LINK...Well, they do, but most lung cancers have spread by then, so it doesn't matter if you pick them up early....years ago, we found yearly Chest X rays didn't make much difference either...sigh.

    Did you know that Tamiflu is made from Star Anise? LINK2...the bad news is that you just can't eat it, it's only a precursor to the drug....

    Sigh. Guess we'll have to stick to Kim Chee

    Jokes

    1. How Do You Catch a Unique Rabbit?
    Unique Up On It.

    2. How Do You Catch a Tame Rabbit?
    Tame Way, Unique Up On It.

    3. How Do Crazy People Go Through The Forest ?
    They Take The Psycho Path

    4. How Do You Get Holy Water?
    You Boil The Hell Out Of It.

    5. What Do Fish Say When They Hit a Concrete Wall?
    Dam!

    6. What Do Eskimos Get From Sitting On The Ice too Long?
    Polaroid's

    7. What Do You Call a Boomerang That Doesn't work?
    A Stick

    8. What Do You Call Cheese That Isn't Yours?
    Nacho Cheese.

    9. What Do You Call Santa's Helpers?
    Subordinate Clauses.

    10. What Do You Call Four Bullfighters In Quicksand?
    Quattro Sinko..

    11. What Do You Get From a Pampered Cow?
    Spoiled Milk.

    12. What Do You Get When You Cross a Snowman With a Vampire?
    Frostbite.

    13. What Lies At The Bottom Of The Ocean And Twitches?
    A Nervous Wreck.

    14. What's The Difference Between Roast Beef And Pea Soup?
    Anyone Can Roast Beef.

    15. Where Do You Find a Dog With No Legs?
    Right Where You Left Him.

    16. Why Do Gorillas Have Big Nostrils?
    Because They Have Big Fingers.

    17. Why Don't Blind People Like To Sky Dive?
    Because It Scares The Dog.

    18. What Kind Of Coffee Was Served On The Titanic?
    Sanka.

    19. What Is The Difference Between a Harley And a Hoover ?
    The Location Of The Dirt Bag.

    20. Why Did Pilgrims' Pants Always Fall Down?
    Because They Wore Their Belt Buckle On Their Hat.

    21. What's The Difference Between a Bad Golfer And a Bad Skydiver?
    A Bad Golfer Goes, Whack, Dang!
    A Bad Skydiver Goes Dang! Whack.

    22. How Are a Texas Tornado And a Tennessee Divorce The Same?
    Somebody's Gonna Lose A Trailer

    (Your email of the day from Col. Updraft)

    Be nice

    St. Peggy says: Listen to Grandmom...be nice.

    Robots!

    Read the link...he discusses the Japanese rules for their robots, and then provides some of his own...

    • Rule #1 - No robot at any time shall harm another member of the human race in any way.
    • Rule #2 - The following people are exempt from Rule #1: Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Abu Musab al Zaqwari, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and the composer of the song "Clowns Never Laughed Before," as heard on TV's The Brady Bunch.
    • Rule #3 - Robots are permitted to rough up O.J. Simpson, Tom Cruise, and Donald Trump. In the case of the last one, there shall be no hair mussing, as it would go completely unnoticed. Robots may only tease Martha Stewart and Paris Hilton.
    • Rule #10 - Any robot who begins to behave illogically shall be immediately employed by the government.

    (headsup from those nutty robotloving neocons at the corner)

    The beauty of chaoscope fractals

    Isn't it strange that "artists" produce ugliness and congratulate themselves for shocking people, but mathematicians produce beauty and we view it with awe?

    FAMILY PHOTOS

    Mrs. Updraft and friends.
    Skating champions taking a break. Alice is on the right.

    Monday, March 12, 2007

    News I missed on vacation

    A PRO AMERICAN demonstration in Germany

    Bill Clinton defended Israel against Jimmy Carter's book.

    The tenth bone box was blank...so much for accuracy in the conspiracy to find Jesus' bone box.

    Did Gitmo get astroturfed? Hmmm... follow the money...

    And this video suggests that Alqaeda replace their boring head chopping video recruiting techniques with a more subtle approach...

    Fire razes Comelec building in Manila

    Yup. it's election year.

    Manolo says: Pikachu!

    Poem of the day

    Oh! Thank you, God, for a lovely day.
    And what was the other I had to say?
    I said "Bless Daddy," so what can it be?
    Oh! Now I remember it. God bless Me.

    Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
    Droops on the little hands little gold head.
    Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
    Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.

    Lileks linked to it...and also discusses Lost, and Wilma Flintstone in the bleat.

    Sgt Mom's review of the 300

    Through the rise and fall of Greece itself, and the Romes that followed it, into the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and into this century, the story of Leonidas and his stalwart few resonates… as much as the righteous and politically correct would have it not so. .. Courage, honor, duty, clear-eyed self-sacrifice in a cause, for the lives of those you hold dear, for your city or your country… those are values that hold, that define who we are and what we stand for. To have them set out unapologetically in a movie like this is as jolting as a triple-latte with a shot of brandy, after a diet of nothing but mineral water. Some years ago, I lamented that Hollywood just couldn’t bring themselves to make a movie about the war we are in. Perhaps this may be the closest that they can bring themselves to do it, without running the risk of having the gentlemen from CAIR parked in the outer office.

    the writer is Sgt Mom from The Daily Brief
    ------------
    Update: This screenwriter concurs...but since he had to use a fake name to post to this conservative site, it makes one wonder...